CCB MEDIA PHOTO: Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito and Michael Lauf, the president and CEO of Cape Cod Healthcare, announce a $2.5 million dollar commitment by Cape Cod Healthcare to address the region’s substance use issues.
HYANNIS – Cape Cod Healthcare is stepping up its fight against the region’s substance abuse crisis.
The organization announced a commitment to distribute $2.5 million in grants over 3 years to programs that treat and prevent substance abuse disorders.
About $875,000 of the funds have been awarded to Gosnold on Cape Cod, Duffy Health Center, Community Health Center of Cape Cod and Outer Cape Health Services.
Another $150,000 was distributed to other community benefits programs related to substance use and mental health issues.
“The idea was to make a difference. To lead,” said Michael Lauf, the president and CEO of Cape Cod Healthcare. “To make sure that we are not only treating people that come to our door but also trying to prevent them from ever coming to our door.”
The remaining $1.5 million of grant funding from the organization has been placed into an establishment fund at the Cape Cod Foundation and will be distributed over the next few years.
Program outcomes will be examined after each year to ensure positive results are met.
“These funds fall squarely within what we think is needed in order for us to reduce the amount of addiction in this Commonwealth especially due to opiate exposure,” said Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, who attended the announcement at Cape Cod Hospital on Thursday.
The new commitment of funds expands Cape Cod Healthcare’s strategy which started in 2014 to tackle the region’s substance abuse problems. An original investment of more than $500,000 was made to establish the Cape Cod Substance Abuse Prevention and Education Fund.
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“We want to make sure that these monies go into programmatics to ensure we get the best possible return to improve people’s lives,” Lauf said.
More than 132,000 nursing hours every year at Cape Cod Healthcare emergency rooms are committed to taking care of patients with addiction.
“This is a community effort,” Lauf said.
Gosnold of Cape Cod was awarded $252,000 in the first year for an overdose prevention program with local law enforcement agencies, along with providing recovery specialists at Cape Cod and Falmouth Hospitals and youth and prevention and education.
A Community Health Center of Cape Cod program to expand the access to medication-assisted treatment on the Upper Cape has received $450,000.
Duffy Health Center was awarded $120,000 to hire a certified alcohol and drug counselor to provide case management service for the center’s patients.
Outer Cape Health Services received $52,000 for the expansion of Office-Based Opioid Treatment to improve the access to Medically-Assisted Treatment. The program currently offers services to the Mid and Lower Cape region.
By BRIAN MERCHANT, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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